Active signal resolution and display scaling

Question

At some point in the last 2 years, it would seem that there was a Windows 11 patch, which screwed up the display scaling. Whatever resolution you setup for the desktop, or games, the actual physical signal to the monitor will always be at its native resolution.

Regardless of whether you disable GPU scaling, and switch to Display scaling in your GPU drivers, Windows WILL NOT obey that setting. It will still always do GPU scaling. And it DOESN'T work well, as Windows doesn't scale content to its aspect ratio, but always to full-screen. It introduces the following issues:

1. I have a widescreen display (21:9). Any game that is supposed to run in 16:9 or 4:3 runs stretched to full screen. This is a nightmare for slightly older games that don't support widescreen.
2. Signals to TV are a mess. My TV supports 4K resolution but only at 30 Hz. However, it does support 1080p at 120 Hz. I always used to set it at 1080p@120Hz for games but with this new "feature" of Windows, the active signal is always 4K@30Hz, and I can't scale the actual physical signal. So I am stuck in this stupid 4K mode.

Things I have tried so far:

1. DDU'd the Nvidia drivers a couple of times. No change.
2. Tried whatever registry hacks I could think of to FORCE the scaling mode to be changed to "Display" instead of "GPU". It doesn't work. Always scales on Display.
3. Made sure "dynamic resolution" is turned of in Nvidia control panel. No change.
4. Using the "List all modes" in the display properties, and changing the resolution from there didn't help, the signal is still the monitor native one.
5. Doesn't matter whether I change the resolution from Windows settings or Nvidia control panel - no effect, the active resolution signal is still native.

Things I haven't tried:

1. Rolling back the GPU driver: this is a stupid solution, I don't want to be stuck with old drivers, because someone decided to be an idiot.
2. Adding additional native resolutions with CRU: also a stupid solution, and you can't possibly add all the various resolutions and refresh rates that a potential older game would use.

What I am looking for in terms of a solution:

• Force Windows to obey scaling on the Display, and actually send the signal that I have chosen at that resolution and refresh rate.
• Any registry hack, file mod, or official patch that would accomplish that.

Answer 1

Hello Danial,

Welcome to Microsoft Community,

I can totally understand your concern. Please follow these steps to troubleshoot the issue.

Troubleshooting steps

1. Select Start > Settings > System > Display and look at the****section that shows your displays.
2. Select the display you want to change. When that's done, follow the instructions below.

To change the size of text, apps, and other items.

1. Stay in, or open, Displaysettings.
2. Scroll to the Scale & layout section.
3. Select Scale, then select an option. Typically, it's best to choose the one that's marked (Recommended)

Change the display resolution

1. Stay in, or open, Displaysettings
2. In the Display resolution row, select the list and choose an option. It's usually best to stick with the one that's marked (Recommended). Monitors can support resolutions that are lower than their native resolutions, but text won't look as sharp and the display might be small, centered on the screen, edged with black, or stretched.

Check Windows Display Mode

1. Open Settings → System → Display → Advanced Display Settings.
2. Ensure Active Signal Resolution matches the selected resolution.
3. If incorrect, try setting the resolution via List All Modes in Display Properties.

Disable Full-Screen Scaling in Windows

• Open Settings → Gaming → Game Mode.
• Disable Game Mode to prevent forced full-screen scaling.

For more help you can read - Change your screen resolution and layout in Windows - Microsoft Support or Windows scaling issues for high-DPI devices (Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4, or Surface Book) - Microsoft Support.

For further query you can directly reach out to Microsoft live support team on - Contact Us - Microsoft Support or get help app.

Please let us know if it works for you.

Thanks, and regards

Zack | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

For you to post this reply is very frustrating. It completely ignores OP problem and suggests fixes that he stated he already tried.

Hundreds of people have brought this problem to attention and nothing has been done or even acknowledged.

Answer 3

I too have been all over this problem and searched in vain. Everything I come across as a "solution" does nothing - my experience is just as yours (with different specific resolution goals).

I have come to some as yet unsubstantiated theories about this problem. Given the lack of sense in official responses, these are my best guess.

1. This is a problem with Windows locking in to HDTV resolutions no matter what when using HDMI. It seems to always want the highest HDTV format available that the graphics card is capable of, ignoring anything less, or any resolution that is not in HDTV wheelhouse.

Even if you pick "show all modes" you will get an active signal standardized to HDTV specs.

2. To make this happen, Windows is doing its own thing with EDID. Whatever the display reports as possible, Windows can choose to ignore, and active signal goes to the nearest, highest HDTV-based resolution. But, windows does not allow the user to override EDID anymore, which is why the "list all modes" does nothing.

The highest resolution of media I have on my HTPC is 1080p and I don't want my PC to do the scaling. Prior to windows 11, I could set my display at this resolution and let my AVR upscale. Not possible now.

My built in graphics can only support 4k at 60hz. If I choose 4k 120hz (TV native) from the list, active signal drops to 1080p 120hz. But then when I load media player interface which runs at 1080p 60hz, Windows pushes the active signal back up to 4k 60hz.

What is MSFT thinking here?? Let us have control back. If users are too obtuse to use these kind of features, add an "expert" mode that reveals them.

Answer 4

None of these suggestions work on (later builds of) Windows 11.

The first 3 "fixes" are plain irrelevant to the issue. Here is what happens when trying the 4th:

The same (16:9) resolution is specified in "List all modes" menu, but the active signal resolution is still the same (21:9):

As for Game Mode, it is turned off but there it literally makes no difference whether it's turned on or off:

So yeah. As you would have seen from my detailed issue description, I am not a novice user and I have tried ALL of these "solutions" before posting here. This issue was NOT present in Windows 10, and was NOT present in builds of Windows 11 prior to about 1 year ago. So something DID change in the way Windows 11 handles display scaling and signal resolution, but it is NOT documented anywhere.

I am about to install KB5055523, which is a cumulative update for 24H2 with the hopes of it quietly being patched, but I don't have high hopes.

Answer 5

50555023 is not awesome. It killed my machine 2x before finally installing. It is a documented problem.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidphelan/2025/04/15/windows-11-microsofts-latest-update-breaking-key-feature-for-millions-of-users/

Can't escape it tho, it will be forced.

And no, it doesn't solve the problem.